Increasingly I am finding that my clients are really resonating with my meditation practice. I was raised Catholic, but ironically, I know more about Buddhism than 12 years of Catholic school actualized.

I do believe, with each passing day, that a spiritual grounding is essential for optimal health. As I nurture this aspect of life with my clients, I see a profound change come over them during our time together.

As we head into the home stretch of 2010, I encourage you to stretch your spirituality muscle a bit. What would 2011 bring to you if you felt more connected to something beyond the tangible and physical world?

What roles do spirituality and meditation and/or prayer play in your life, currently? What do you get from it? What do you stand to gain from expanding it and/or building upon it?

My own spiritual practice transcends to each interaction, relationship and experience. I am humbly grateful to mentors along my path who nurtured my search for truth and meaning because it grounds everything I do, everything I say and puts all the "small stuff" into such a grand perspective. It helps me breathe more deeply. It relieves stress. It allows me to focus at work and it brings more love into my relationships.

Despite being raised Catholic, meditation and Buddhist philosophies have provided me more mental, physical and emotional stability and health so they have been my primary focus for the past 8 years. I worked for a spiritual community/organization for several years and have a deep understanding and respect for each religion (and curiosity about the ones which I have yet to know more intimately). I find many people in my life don't talk about religion or spirituality---and it comes as no surprise. It is safer and "more polite" to not speak of it. Just like politics, right?

But at what cost?

As a health coach, I experience the beauty of being open and honest about my own vital spiritual practice. My clients repeat back phrases and words I use, namely identifying instances where they witness "the Universe" at work in their lives. Let me tell you, there is nothing more rewarding. More than the greens they ate, more than the relationship they negotiated, more than the minutes logged on the treadmill---when my clients share a connection they made to something outside themselves as a result of our work together...I feel truly satisfied. I have helped someone connect to something upon which to rely when life feels unmanageable, unreasonable or really fucking confusing.

As I head into 2011, I resolve to deepen spiritual exploration with each of my clients and challenge my peers to expand this area of their lives.